Abstract

In 2012, the Australian National Therapeutic Residential Care Forum (TRC) was formed. The National Forum was established to share collective research and practice knowledge and to drive quality service provision at a time when... [ view full abstract ]

In 2012, the Australian National Therapeutic Residential Care Forum (TRC) was formed. The National Forum was established to share collective research and practice knowledge and to drive quality service provision at a time when models of Australian Therapeutic Residential Care were still emerging. The group is led by a reference group of policy and practice leaders and researchers from each Australian jurisdiction. This national representative group provides a coordinated and collaborative means by which the evidence based practice for therapeutic residential care can be developed in Australia. In this presentation, the new Australian consensus definition of Therapeutic Residential Care will be presented and the research, principles and practices that underpin it will be discussed. The definition reflects the unique parameters and qualities of residential care services in Australia. The definition provides the foundation for the future work of the group which will focus on national standards for the sector, including the development of standardised audit and evaluation tools tailored to Therapeutic Residential Care.